Rotary steam-engine



w. n S'E'ARL AND 0. F; CLARK.

ROTARY STEAM ENGINE. APPLICATION men MAR. 13. l9l6- nsuzwap JAN. 21.l9l9.

Patentd Sept. 16, 1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

. m gwi;

' w. R. SEARL Am) 0. F. CLARK.

ROTARY STEAM ENGINE. APPLICATION FILED MAFL 13, I916. RENEWED JAN. 27.1919.

Patented Sept. 16, 1919;

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

W. RI SEARL AND 0. F. CLARK.

ROTARY STEAM ENGINE. APPLICATION FILED MAR. Ia, IsIe. RENEWED JAN. 27.I919.

1,316,512. I PatentedSept. 16,1919. 7

3 SHEETSSHEET 3.

I j npaufoza "UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WOOLSEY R. SEAR/L AND OSCAR F. GLAIRK, OF TIMBER LAKE, SOUTH DAKOTA.

ROTARY STEAM-ENGINE.

Specifica'tiOn of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 16, 1919.

Application filed March 13, 1916, SerialNo. 83,990. Renewed January 27,19-19. Serial No. 273,391.

T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that we, WVooLsEY R. SEARL andOSCAR F. CLARK, citizens of the United States, residing at Timber Lake,in the county of Dewey and State of South Dakota, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Rotary Steam-Engines, of

which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to steam engines and more particularly to thatclass of engines known as rotary steam engines.

An object of our inventionis to provide a rotary engine of the classdescrlbedhavlng a rection of rotation of the engine the relief 7 portswill be automatically moved :to cooperate therewith.

Other objects and advantages to be. de

rived from the use of our improved rotary engine will appear from thefollowing detail description and the claim taken with an inl spect-ionof the accompanying drawings in which,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of thecontrol side of a rotary engineembodying the -improvements of our invention,

Fig. 2 is an elevational view, one side plate and bearing member beingremoved, to show 7 the interior arrangement of the engine, a portion ofthe view being insection,

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 38 of Fig. 1,looking. in the direc tion of the arrow, I

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 4'1 of Fig.3,looking in the direction of the arrows,

Fig. 5 is an elevational view of the oppo site side of the engine tothat shown in Figs. 1 and 2, showing the gear casing removed and thegears exposed, r

Fig. 6 is a' diametrical sectional view of the rotor taken on the line6-6 ofFig. 2,

and

' Fig; 7 is an enlarged perspective view of the inlet control valve andc'ut-ofi valve, showing the same separated.

Referring more particularly to the draw ings, wherein similar charactersof reference designate like and corresponding parts throughout thevarious views, 1 designates the stator or frame of our improved rotaryengine, said frame having a base portion 2 formed thereon which ismounted on a floor or the like by means of bolts 3. The frame 1 isprovided with an enlarged portion 4 formed with a power chamber 5provided with a suitable wearing lining 6. Outlet ports 7 and 8communicate with the chamber 5 for an obvious purpose. A rotor ismounted for operation in the power chamber 5 and is designated in itsentirety by the numeral 9. The rotor 9 is formed of a cylindrical bodyhaving a plurality of recesses 10 radially arranged therein andcommunicating the'like 13 are placed between the bases of the grooves 11and the packing segments 12 to maintain the latter in proximate relationto the side walls of the stator hereinafter described. p

The rotor 9 is keyed as at 14 on a shaft 15 extending through-theengine, said shaft'being mounted in a manner hereinafter set forth.Pistons designated 16 and =17 in their entireties are mounted on therotor 9 and are arranged in the recesses 10. The pistons are practicallyidentical in construc tion and therefore a description of one willsuffice Referring to the piston '16, it will'be noted that this pistoncomprises a pair of spaced plates 18 loosely mounted in One of therecesses 10 and extending radially from the rotor 9. The plates 18 havetheir opposing faces grooved thereof to receive keys '19,

said keys engaging packing sections 20 between which isinterposed a coilspring 21 for normally maintaining said packing members relativelyremote. The keys 19 permit of lateral sliding movement of the packingmembers 20, but prevent outward movement necessary.

of said members independently of the plates 18. Coil springs 9 serve tomaintain the packing members 20 normally in snug engagement with theinner peripheral surface of the ower chamber.

Side plates 22 and 23 are mounted on the stator 1, said plates being ofa shape substantially like that of the stator.

Bearing plates 24 and 25 provided with marginal inwardly directedflanges 26 and 27 are mounted on the stator 1 and the plates 22 and 23,respectively, and are secured in position by means of bolts or the like28. The plates 24 and 25 are provided with semicircular bearings 29 and30, respectively, in which the shaft 15 is arranged for rotation. Theupper half of the bearings are removable, semi-circular sections 31 and32, secured by means of bolts 33 to the lower sections being providedfor this purpose.

\Ve provide a sliding abutment designated 34 in its entirety, saidabutment being slidably arranged in a recess 35 extending radially fromthe power chamber. The construction of the abutment is practicallyidentical with the construction of the piston members 16 and 17 andtherefore a detail description of the same is not thought to be A rod 36extends from the abutment 34 and is connected to mechanism hereinafterdescribed for operating the abutment. The plate 22, of course, isnecessarily slotted as at 23 to permit radial movement of the rodtherein Inlet portsare provided in our improved engine, the main inletpipe being designated 37 and communicating with the main inlet port 38.

terminating in inwardly directed ends '40 and 41. A- cylindrical opening42 is provided in the stator 1 and in this opening is mounted the maininlet control and reversing valve 43.: The reversing valve 43 isrotatably mounted in the opening 42 and is provided with alongitudinally extendin recess 44 adapted to receive the cut-0% valve 45of the engine. The valve 43 is provided with an end wall 46 over whichextends a stub shaft 47 mounted in suitable v bearings in the plate 22and the plate-24,

the free extremity of the shaft 47 being squared as at 48 to. receive amanipulating 60 formed in the valve 43. The openings 53 lever 49 havingthe usual ratchet 50 cofiperating with the segmental rack 51 mounted onthe bearing plate 24. The valve 45 is provided with a transverselyextending recess 52, which recess-upon rotation of the valve alternatelyregisters with openings 53 are diametrically oppositely arranged andinlet conduits 54 and 55 communicating with the, power chamber 5 onopposite sides of the abutment 34 receive steam or other The port 38divides at its lower end to provide a semi-circular conduit 39 meanstherefor which include preferably conduits 77 and 78 carried by thebearing valve 45.

power fiuid through the openings 53, depending upon the position towhich the valve 43 "56, extending from one end thereof, said stub shafthaving mounted thereon a gear 57, said gear being keyed to said shaft.The plate 25 with the flange 27 thereon affords a gear chamber 58adapted to receive the gear 57, said gear 57 meshing with the idle gear59 mounted on a stub shaft 60 carried by the plate 23, said gear 59 inturn meshing with a driving gear 61 mounted upon a gear to the shaft 15.The relations of the gears are such that upon rotation of the shaft 15the valve 45 is rotated.

In order to operate the abutment 34 we provide a cam member 62 mountedupon and keyed to the shaft 15, said cam member having a peripheralsurface 63 provided with outstanding lugs 64 and 65 diametricallyoppositely located. The cam member 62 is provided with diametricallyoppositely located extensions 66 which serve to support an annular guardmember 67 provided with sinuations 68 and 69 coincident with theoutstanding portions 64 and 65 referred to. An oscillating arm 70pivoted at 71 to the plate 22 is provided on one extremity. with aroller 72 which is adapted to be located between the cam member 62 andthe guard member 67. The opposite extremity of the arm 70 is pivotallyconnected by means of a link 73 to a second arm 74 pivoted at 75 member24, said conduits communicating with the power chamber 5 on oppositesides of the abutment 34. The conduits are provided with enlargements inwhich slidable valve members 79 and 80 are operable, said valve membersbeing connected by means of links 81 and 82 and levers 83 and 84 to arocker arm 85 carried by the shaft 47. The free ends of the conduits 77and 78 communicate with an apertured enlargement 86 cast integrally withthe bearing member 24, and an exhaust pipe 87 is provided.

In operation, steam is supplied to the engine by means of the pipe 37and is admitted to the. power chamber 5 against the piston 16, in thepresent instance, by means of the By shifting the lever 49 from one sideto the other the amount of steam supplied to the engine may becontrolled and thesteam may be cut off entirely by placing following theoffset portions of said cam. This causes the arms 70 and 74 to beoscillated which in turn reciprocate the abutment 58. This serves tomove the abutment out of the path of the pistons, it being clear thatthe offset portions of the cam are located in alinement with thepistons, and operate slightly in advance thereof.

From the use of this engine it will be seen that we are enabled tocontrol the amount of steam supplied to the engine and the same may beeasily reversed without the provision of complicated and inefficientmechanism. The periphery of the rotor is preferably of greater weightthan the central portion thereof, in order to impart to the same a.fiy-wheel action. It will also be apparent that we have Provided in arotary engine relief ports for cooperation with the main control valvewhereby when starting the engine no undue strain is liable to occur onthe stator or on the rotor.

From the above description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, it is thought that a clear and comprehensive understanding ofthe construction, operation and advantages of our invention may be had,

and while we have shown and described our invention as embodying aspecific structure,

we desire that it be understood that we may make such changes on saidstructure as do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention asclaimed.

What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters-Patent is Incombination with a rotary engine having a valve chamber formed in thestator thereof, inlet and outlet ports communicating with said chamber,a reversing valve rotatably mounted in the valve chamber, a cutofi valverotatable in said reversing valve, means for adjusting the reversingvalve with relation to the intake and outlet ports, a power chamber,outlet conduits communicating therewith; reciprocating valves interposedin the outlet conduits, an arm secured to the reversing valve, and meansfor connecting said reciprocating valves with the arm.

In testimony whereof we afiix our signatures.

WOOLSEY R. SEARL. OSCAR F. CLARK.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). 0.

